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our rating just took a dump, up goes all the other rates.
Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer, On Friday August 5, 2011, 11:55 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States has lost its sterling credit rating from Standard & Poor's.
The credit rating agency on Friday lowered the nation's AAA rating for the first time since granting it in 1917. The move came less than a week after a gridlocked Congress finally agreed to spending cuts that would reduce the debt by more than $2 trillion -- a tumultuous process that contributed to convulsions in financial markets. The promised cuts were not enough to satisfy S&P.
and who has cash? it is all credit. put that on a MC/Visa, what do you have in your wallet?
2. The interest rates YOU and YOUR EMPLOYER pay will go up. Basic credit facilities -- like mortgages, student loans and credit cards -- are all at least loosely tied to the rates the government pays. A half a percent increase in mortgage rates could increase the total cost of the average traditional mortgage by $19K (on a $172K home). Businesses would have to spend more money to finance expansions. Costs for borrowed money goes up, effectively raising the price of anything you're not paying for with cash.